http://www.escapepod.org/

Feel like a little SF escapism?  The Website Watch offering today is Escapepod, a website that distributes audio Science Fiction stories to listen to onsite or to download as podcasts and then hear.

Great idea!  And the site is simplicity itself, you simply choose from the general categories on the left and then select the individual podcast you want to hear from the results page.  Once you have chosen, the story can be heard in the onsite player or, if you prefer, it can be downloaded and you can listen to it at your leisure.

If you’re not into podcasts, don’t worry because the file that you download is a normal mp3 file that will open in, for example, Windows Media Player exactly as it would if it were music.  If you know about podcasts, however, then you will also know how to subscribe from the instructions given in the left navigation menu.  Alternatively, if you want to know about Podcasts then choose the ‘Podcasting? Huh?’ menu item for an good and clear explanation.

The stories take mostly around half an hour to listen to, except for the very short stories, and the content is graded to separate out mature and ‘X’ rated stories and keep these separate.  Note, however, that such stories can still be easily downloaded and listened to, so exercise care if the site is accessed by children.

In scope the stories cover most of the SF genre, the only noteworthy comment is they are generally upbeat stories with little of a morbid or dark content.  The stories seem new and the whole atmosphere of the site seems to represent the current SF scene and its content.  If you are not into SF, we think it is still worth giving the site a look and perhaps checking the stories to see if any appeal.

When listening, the stories are well and intelligently read, the readers being American, personable and easy to understand.  In fact it is very possible to sit back, put your feet up and pass a very pleasant half hour if you have the time.  Alternatively, you can download, save and listen to the story when time is not so pressing.

If you are a writer, however, then you will immediately want to checkout the submission guidelines for this seems a good market to which to submit stories if they meet the criteria.  This applies also to PesudoPod referred to below. 

The site is also host to a lively SF discussion forum accessed from the left hand menu which covers all things to do with SF and with the website.

If you enjoy listening to SF, then there is a link, again at the top of the left hand menu, that takes you to a site where you can buy various collections of Escapepod material for what, we thought, was a very reasonable price.  Although the website is in the USA, orders can be shipped internationally.

There is a link to what appears to be a sister site in the Resources menu that takes you to the Pseudopod site.  This is in a similar format but contains horror stories only.

There is, of course, something nice about sitting back in an easy chair and relaxing while having someone read to you and, if we have not already convinced you, we suggest that you bookmark this site straight away and visit it often!  A definite bookmark and well worth a look even if you are not die-hard SF fan.